


Heritage of Spies

by KeJae



Category: Chuck (TV), White Collar
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-16 02:32:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 17,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7248553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeJae/pseuds/KeJae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Chuck isn't the only son of spies? Who else could have a family full of spy secrets?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hostage

****

***********

His ears were ringing and his head hurt so he left it hanging towards his chest for the moment.  Shifting position, he could feel that he was zip tied to a wooden chair with his hands also bound by zip ties behind him.  With nothing to pick, he was going to be in trouble if he couldn’t get something to cut the binds.

Lifting his head, he started taking in his surroundings. 

The room was barren except for his chair, a light, and the door.  Looking at the walls, they had a gray color with darker areas of mold and mildew.  Above him the ceiling contained the piping and wiring for the rest of the building with parts covered and others open due to gaps in the ceiling material.  Flickering caught the corner of his eye so he focused on the light.  It was one of those basic ones with a pull string like you see in closets or basements.  Based on the evidence, it looked like he was in some kind of basement.

Studying the door next, he looked to see what he would be up against should he manage to escape his bonds.  It appeared to be built of solid material, perhaps a heavy wood reinforced with some metal in order to keep it from being forced with weight.  Then there were no obvious ways of opening the door from the inside as there was nothing to pick.  Finally, the hinges were outside which also removed the idea of taking the door off.

When he finished taking in the surroundings there wasn’t much for him to do but wait for his captors to show up.  While he waited, he decided to reflect back on how he was taken and what had transpired since to look for clues as to what was going on.

_He was walking home from the gym when he turned the corner and was tasered into unconsciousness.  Then later he woke up to the hum of the road beneath his ear as he lay in the back of a van.  Expanding the range of his focus, he caught some words from his captors._

_“Do you think his parents will pay for his safe return?”_

_“Of course they will.  But if they don’t, then we have some friends who will pay highly for the opportunity to kill him themselves._   _Either way, we get what we want.”_   _The two men fell into raucous laughter as they decided that it didn’t matter how the situation went as they would succeed either way._

_Their conversation drifted into silence without revealing any more helpful information._

_Arriving at their destination, they tasered him unconscious again before removing him from the van._

Reflecting back on the important details, he was being held hostage for ransom, if that ransom wasn’t paid then he would be turned over to some enemy, and his parents were being targeted.  That at least gave him some details to think about, but it still didn’t make sense for a series of reasons.

First, his parents weren’t together since his Mom was held captive by severe depression and his dad had abandoned them years ago.  Second, they never had much in the way of money which was why his father became a thief.  Finally, his records were sealed and buried so no one should be able to connect the details to who he really was. 

Had they gotten the wrong person by accident?

*******

Peter had been settled on the couch with Elizabeth while Satchmo snoozed on the floor beside them.  They were enjoying a movie and some quiet time together after a series of difficult cases and events had kept them apart.

When Peter’s phone went off he was tempted to ignore it, but a glance at the caller ID had his focus changing.  The Marshals were calling him and that was never a good sign, especially since he had his CI to think about.

As expected, the agent on the other end was the bearer of bad news and Neal was off anklet.

He told Elizabeth not to wait up for him while he grabbed his keys and other belongings.  It was a wasted effort on his part as they both knew she would be waiting for his return to know what was going on and that all were safe.

Heading out the door, he called Jones and requested him to get Diana and meet him at the location where Neal’s signal was cut.

Driving down the road, he realized that he was heading for a street corner between Neal’s gym and June’s mansion.  Thinking back to when he dropped Neal off at home, he recalled his CI’s plans for the evening.  Neal was going to work out at the gym to use up his adrenaline before heading home to sleep.  Taking that into account, he must have been heading home when something happened. 

Hopefully it was just a glitch in the anklet and they could laugh it off when Neal made his usual jokes about “big brother watching.”

 Arriving first on the scene, he didn’t see anything but an empty corner.  Checking in the nearest ally he poked around the surface of one of the dumpsters.  To his dismay, he found Neal’s gym bag disposed of amidst the rubbish.  Marking its location for evidence, he continued to check around the dark crannies to see if anything came up.  Beneath the back corner of the dumpster he found Neal’s anklet had indeed been cut.  Was he on the run, or had some enemy caught up with him?

Calling in more back up, he had a team come in to sweep for prints and any other evidence that might be found between the alley and the corner.

While the Marshals and other agents continued to gather evidence, Peter stood in view of the ally and the corner waiting for his team.  Jones approached him first.

The agent had taken some time to stop by June’s.  He had asked her what Neal had been doing for the evening and some back questions to see if there were any recent patterns beyond his usual.  Her answers were that Neal had gone to the gym two hours prior, just shortly after Peter had dropped him off from work, and she hadn’t seen him since.  As for previous patterns, he had been so occupied with work that she hardly saw him over the last few weeks.

Unless Neal had been planning something for an extended period of time and this was his first opportunity to carry it out, it looked like someone else had been involved with his disappearance.  Neither one was a good scenario.

Then Diana arrived on the scene with the result of her investigation. 

She had been to the gym.  It was the last likely place that Neal would have been seen so she decided to ask around.  The consensus was that Neal had arrived nearly two hours prior which followed the time line of him leaving June's and walking to the gym.  While he was there, he pretty much kept to himself, which was apparently normal for him.  He only interacted with others when necessary and seemed to prefer to exercise alone.  When she asked if there had been any suspicious patrons, no one had seen anything, so it didn’t look like Neal was being watched.  Then she asked into when he had left and the time coincided with what it would take for him to walk to the corner and when the Marshals recorded his tracking signal going dark.

Peter was dismayed and relieved.  The evidence was pointing to Neal having been abducted, but that meant that he probably hadn’t run. 

In an effort to get their consultant back, the team exhausted the scene looking for evidence, the Marshals took precautions just in case it was set up to look like an abduction, and Peter contacted Mozzie to see what he could find on the streets.

It was a long night.  The Marshal’s man hunt didn’t get anything, Mozzie didn’t hear anything about Neal or anyone targeting him, and the team only found his bag and anklet.  Things weren’t looking good.

*******

It was the middle of the night when the phone rang.  Muttering to herself, the woman worked her way out of the comfort of her bed to reach for her phone vibrating acrossed the night stand.  Picking it up, the caller was blocked to disguise their identity, so she activated a recorder before answering.

“We have your son.  If you want to see him alive again, you and his father will place the ransom in amounts and locations that you will receive in one hour.”  With that the line ended leaving her listening to the dial tone.

Thinking, she realized that someone had connected the details she had worked so hard to hide, they didn’t want her to know who they were, and they were threatening her son.

Picking up the phone again, she selected a number and placed a call.

“He’s been taken.  I just got a ransom call saying that I will receive further instruction in one hour.”  She was silent while she listened to the person on the other end of the line.  “Yes, that is the recording.”  Then she was silent again.  “In one hour.”  With that she hung up and moved to get dressed.  Her day was starting again early. 

*******

Groaning, the man was awakened by the irritating sound of his phone ringing.  Reaching out from under the bed, he wondered how he got into such a position, but couldn’t focus on it.  Slowly making his way out, he caught the phone just after it had gone to voicemail.  Rubbing his eyes, he tried to regain his focus before listening to the recording.  After a moment he was able to focus his eyes enough to access his voicemail.

“We have your son.  If you want to see him alive again, you and his mother will place the ransom in amounts and locations that you will receive in one hour.” 

Suddenly wide awake, he looked through his phone for a special number.  Before he could find it he saw that she was calling him.

She started the conversation and he threw in what the message had been.  They realized that they had gotten the same call and agreed to see what would happen in an hour.  In the meanwhile, they would get dressed and begin a means of investigation to see what they could do to help their son.


	2. Rescue

***********

When Neal’s captors came into the room, they weren’t very nice. 

He opened his eyes to see them walking into the room before a fist collided with his face.  The blow knocked him sideways and caused his head to collide with the floor hard enough to knock him senseless.

Throwing a bucket of water over him, they brought him back around before shoving a phone to his ear.  “Speak!”  They commanded.

“Hello?”  He had just received a hard blow to the head so he wasn’t entirely clear in his speech.

Before he could hear anything from the person on the line, the phone was yanked away and his captors left the room.  “You have your proof of life.  Give us our first drop, or he dies.”  As they left the room he was unable to hear anything further.

Interesting, they had contacted his supposed parents.  Would they discover that they had the wrong person and dispose of him, or would the parents play along to protect a stranger?

Dropping into unconsciousness, he decided to look into his past to see if there was anything that he had missed.  After all, he had learned that he didn’t know everything once, so it was possible that there could be more to his past.

*******

After a few hours of sleep, the team was back in the office and continuing to search for their missing comrade.  Despite the efforts that they had put forth, they still weren’t finding anything conclusive. 

Diana had gone over the camera footage from the gym with nothing suspicious.  Jones had gone over the footage following street cameras and ATMs, but Neal was on a blind corner when he disappeared.  Blake had lead a team that did door to door checks and called into taxi services to see if anyone had seen anything with no luck.

What had happened?

Peter got the first clue when a satellite recording showed up on his computer showing exactly what had happened to Neal. 

Watching the video, the team noticed several details.  Neal was caught by surprise, he was abducted somewhat violently, and they didn’t know the perpetrators.  Then they started tracking the source for the information.  It was supplied by someone high up in the government who was looking out for Neal… that was unexpected.

Following the lead of the perpetrators, they quickly found and address and got a warrant to execute a rescue.

Entering the building, they noticed that it was abandoned and seemed to be full of creeks and odd noises.  Combing through it from top to bottom, they checked each room and continued to find nothing.  When they had finished going through the building, they were about to give up hope when Peter got a text to check for secret entrances.

Thinking that it was Mozzie texting him, Peter ignored the source of the information and directed the teams to look for anything unusual.

Checking through the building again, they looked amusing as everyone was crawling around knocking on everything.  From the floor up the wall and even to the ceiling they searched with painstaking care.  Eventually Peter heard a signal from the kitchen saying that something had been found.  Gathering together, they opened the secret passageway and Peter led the procession down.

Wandering the mazelike hallways, Peter came to a door and held his breath.  It was solidly made of wood and reinforced with metal.  He could see that the hinges were on the outside and all of the mechanisms for opening the door seemed to only be accessible from the outside too.  This had to be it!

Opening the door, Peter saw Neal lying on the floor in a chair that had obviously been knocked over violently.  His head was resting in what appeared to be his own blood and his face had a huge bruise forming on the side.  When Peter got to him, he discovered that he was zip tied to the chair and his hands bound behind.  Gently, Peter reached out to tap Neal’s cheek in an effort to get a reaction from the man. 

Neal groaned which Peter took for a good sign.

“Ambulance is on its way boss.  ETA seven minutes.”  An agent from behind let him know what was going on.

Jones moved to the base of the chair and cut the binds there while Diana cut the binds holding Neal’s arms.  Peter crouched in front of Neal and supported him as his body fell forward.  Freed from his bonds, Neal became a dead weight so Jones and Diana moved to help Peter ease him to the floor.

Laying him out flat, they assessed his injuries and didn’t like what they saw.  He was pale, his head was bloodied, and his face was multicolored.  The worst of his injuries was probably a concussion if they were lucky, if they were unlucky he could have a more serious head injury.

It didn’t take long for the paramedics to arrive, but it felt like it took three times as long due to the anxiety involved in waiting. 

The first one to Neal began to check him over and clean up his injuries while the second one prepared to move him.  After he was ready to be transported, they counted off and moved him over to a crash cart. 

When they wheeled Neal away to the ambulance, Peter tagged along.  Flashing his badge and telling them that he is the emergency contact, he demanded to ride along.

Closing the doors, the ambulance sped off with lights and sirens blazing.

*******

Monitoring the situation, the man and woman were relieved when they heard that Agent Burke had rescued their son.

It didn’t come as a surprise that the agent rode along in the ambulance.  He was one of their son’s closest friends and their son had good taste in friends after all.

Once the ambulance arrived at the hospital, Peter was relocated to the waiting room while Neal was checked out in the emergency room.  It took a while for Neal to be cleaned up and for the doctors to get the results for all of the testing that they put him through, but eventually they finished.

Walking into the emergency room they found Peter and gave him a run down on his friend’s condition.  Neal had burn marks from the taser, minor cuts from the zip ties, a bruise from being punched rather violently, and a concussion resulting from his head injury.

When they finished updating him on Neal’s condition, Peter requested to see him.  With the doctor’s permission he was lead to a room and allowed a few minutes with his friend.

He didn’t have much time so he took in his friend’s appearance.  Neal was pale, except along the side of his face where he was a multitude of colors, there were the monitors connected to him to keep track of his condition, and he was stretched out sleeping.

The doctor said that he hadn’t woken up yet, but they figured that he would come around as soon as he was ready.

With his time up, Peter left for the office to place his report and called his wife to update her on his way.

What he didn’t realize, was that his phone call was tapped and his report was read by more people than he expected.  After all, who would guess that Neal’s biological parents were government and capable of doing so?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, leaving kudos, following, and choosing to favorite :D


	3. Recovery

*******

Lying in the hospital bed, Neal didn’t have much of anything to do.   He was being held for observation so he couldn’t begin his search yet, but he could get a contact or two to get it started for him.

Deciding that it was at least a start, Neal reached for the phone only to be caught by Peter. 

“Hey, you aren’t supposed to be exerting yourself, Neal.”  He had that protective look that said he wasn’t thrilled with Neal’s choice of action.

“What?   A guy can’t even make a phone call?”  Neal smirked at him slightly with a hint of a charming smile.

“It’s not the phone call that is the problem.  Why are you trying to call out anyway?  His eyes slanted into a suspicious expression.

“I have nothing to do but lay here.  Why not reach out to others for conversation?”  He shrugged his shoulders because moving his head hurt too much.  “Besides, I have been hurt worse in the past and asking a friend to do some digging for me never hindered my healing before.”

Sighing in understanding, Peter tried to redirect him.  “How about we make a deal?  You let us do the researching until you recover and then you can dig in and help.”

“Deal, on one condition.”  Peter directed him to continue.  “I get to call my contact and have him start compiling the information I need to check something out.”

“Okay, why don’t you call them now?”  He was testing Neal.

“It’ll wait.”

“Neal…”  That led Peter to use that paternal voice.  “It had better not be anything illegal.”  There was a whole lecture in that little sentence, but Neal ignored it.

“It’s not that.  There shouldn’t be anything to my theory… but based on past experience it is possible.”  Taking a deep breath he tried not to think of the implications of what it would mean.  “Besides, my contact doesn’t want to broadcast that they have connections to me.”

Peter frowned at that.  Why wouldn’t someone want to be associated with Neal?

Seeing his expression, Neal answered the question.  “You’re not my only contact with a badge.”  That was all that Neal would say on the topic. 

Peter reflected that his government contacts should be obvious with the recent appearance of the satellite information.  Knowing that Neal could be very stubborn, he decided to let him have his way for the moment, but he would get back to questioning him on the topic later.

Changing the conversation, Peter asked Neal how he was and started plans for arranging to take his statement to get the business details taken of out of the way.  Then he reverted to the conversations that they were both more comfortable with.

They chatted about art, baseball, office gossip, and Mozzie’s latest theories until Elizabeth arrived with dinner. 

She had called ahead to see what Neal was allowed to eat and brought enough for all of them to enjoy.  Dishing out the food with Peter’s help, she carried on her own conversation with Neal to see for herself how he was recovering.  Then when they settled down to eat, she also changed the subject back to the more typical conversations of food and event details.

It was a pleasant evening past between three friends with good food and conversation.  After a while though, Neal’s fatigue began to catch up to him so he started to doze off.

Seeing his eyes drooping, Elizabeth began to quietly pick up the meal and pack it back up for transportation.

Peter was assisting her when he noticed that Neal was still holding his spoon in his hand as he drifted off.   He gently reached out and took the spoon from Neal’s hand, but disturbed him despite trying to be careful.

Feeling someone touching him as he drifted off, Neal opened his eyes and looked at Peter.

The expression in his eyes as he realized that it was just Peter was full of so much trust.  Knowing that the man was a con who didn’t trust easily, Peter felt that it was a look he would never forget.

*******

It was early the next morning when Neal woke up.  This time he managed to reach the phone with no one complaining about him being active despite being ordered to take it easy. 

Listening to the phone ring, he hoped the man on the other end would pick up so that he wouldn’t have to leave this as a message.  Fortunately, he didn’t have to wait that long before he heard the line connect. 

“Hello, Erickson.”  The voice was just as strong as he remembered.

“Hey Colin.  This is Neal Bennett.” 

“What can I do for you?”  He seemed to be curious as they hadn’t talked in a long time.

“Can’t a guy just call to say hi to his favorite Marshal?”  It was a deflection technique, but he didn’t intend to defer his intent for too long.

“Yes, but as you have never done that before I assume something is up.  Since your deflecting, I would assume that this isn’t going to be pleasant, so you might as well get it over with.”  The man had known Neal nearly his entire life so he wasn’t going to be sneaking things past him.

“Well… The problem is that I was recently abducted by a group of guys who then held me hostage for ransom against my parents.  As you know, my parents aren’t together, don’t have money, and don’t have enemies who would be looking for a ransom.  When they called the parents, they gave them proof of life by having me speak on the phone.  Since I was rescued several hours later and not killed in the meanwhile, I assume that the parents claimed me or that they really are my parents.” He was struggling to get to the point of what he wanted to request.

“So you are wondering if there is more to your past than you know and you want me to poke around before getting you any information that I find.”  And that was why Neal liked working with the man so well.  He knew what Neal meant without him even having to say it.

“Yeah.  That is exactly what I was calling you to ask.  I guess I haven’t changed much over the years have I?”

“You’re still the same person that I knew all those years ago.  The only difference is that you’re a man now instead of a boy.”  He was smiling through the phone and his voice carried the expression.

They didn’t talk for long, but Neal found it to be very reassuring.  Simply knowing that the research was being done for him made it easier to lay back and relax.  When the conversation ended, he simply breathed deeply.

It was only a few minutes later that Peter walked into the room.  He was relieved to see that Neal seemed to be relaxed and more peaceful than he had been in a while.  What caused the difference?

“You’re looking better.  What happened?”  He was hoping to get an honest answer.

“I put in that call that I was talking about.  My friend is doing my research for me.” There was a smile of contentment on his face that was quickly fading.  He was remembering why he needed to place that call and his stress was returning.

“So why is the stress returning then?”  It wasn’t good to see Neal stressing out.  Was there anything that he could do to help him?

“…Because, a good conversation with a friend who has known me nearly all of my life ultimately doesn’t combat the reason for the request.”  He was being honest with Peter in his usual cryptic means.  It was the best he could offer under the circumstances.

“Why is that?” 

“The answer to the question will affect who I am… or am not.”   He turned to face the wall as he couldn’t keep how much that hurt from Peter.

Even more confused, Peter continued to question him in the hopes of getting his answers.  “What do you mean that the answer with affect who you are?”

“Not now Peter.  If this means what I think it means… then I have been down this road before.  Right now I have the hope that maybe it is just a theory, so I’d rather not focus on it.”  He shut down his expression so that Peter would know he was not going to go any further into the subject.

Seeing that he wasn’t going to get anywhere, Peter gave him a few minutes to regain his composure.  Then he changed the subject by taking down Neal’s statement.

When he finished with the questions, he looked at Neal.  The kid seemed to be having trouble dealing with something and he obviously wasn’t going to be opening up anytime soon.  There wasn’t anything that he could do at the moment so he decided to give Neal some space. With his parting words he left the room.

*******

They had enlisted an agent to place a camera in the room while Neal was sleeping.  It was a portal for them to keep an eye on their son.

While he slept, they prepared for the coming inevitability. 

He had placed the call so they knew he would be discovering his true heritage soon enough.  In the meanwhile, they needed to prepare themselves for what it would be like facing their son, for the first time.

The plan had been in place for a while now, since they knew who he had become, and now they had to see it through.  It was only a matter of time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing/commenting, leaving kudos, following, and choosing to favorite :D
> 
> Just to let everyone know, my family is going on a trip from the 9th through the 19th so I won't be home to post. Instead, I plan to post this Friday, and will perhaps post Tuesday after I get back (depending on how crazy it is and how tired I am).


	4. Discover

*******

It was time for Neal to be released.

He was sitting on the hospital bed signing his release forms in triplicate… a process he was rather used to by now.  His possessions had been collected from the room, he was dressed, and as soon as Peter arrived to take him home he would be ready.

Colin had messaged him that he would be meeting him the next day.  The fact that the man was coming out personally didn’t bode well for Neal, but he knew the man had helped him through these circumstances once before, so what was a second round?  He almost shook his head to clear his thoughts, but the first movements in that direction reminded why that was a bad idea.

With his forms completed, he had only to wait for Peter who was being uncharacteristically late.   Hopefully that didn’t mean something had gone wrong.  It was more likely that Elizabeth was cooking something up, or that Peter had gotten lost in his crossword puzzle for the morning.

While Neal’s mind wondered, he missed the first moments of Peter walking down the hall and watching him from the doorway. 

“You’re ready early.  The doctor originally told me that you wouldn’t be ready to go for another two hours.”

Neal jumped as he had been startled.  Peter had become one of those people who could get past his barriers and sneak up on him.  That was a problem, not from Peter, but from anyone who might manage to take advantage of the weakness.  Building his defenses back up, Neal focused in on his surroundings.

“What, so no cake, or get well teddy bear?  He smirked at Peter.

Smiling at the banter, Peter responded in kind.  “I always thought that you were more of a flowers kind of person.  Sorry I didn’t grab you a bouquet, but the florist shop here didn’t have any worthy of being painted.”  He teased Neal and enjoyed seeing Neal respond with a smile.

“It’s the thought that counts.  Besides, if you’re actually thinking about the quality of an object for being painted, then my work here is done.”  It didn’t go all the way to his eyes but there was a jovial sound to his attitude that had been missing.  Peter hoped that it wasn’t just a show of reassurance, but that at least some of it was real.

“Oh, no.  You have the rest of your sentence to go, and not a minute less.  I have a contract with your signature on it to prove that so don’t go thinking you’re going to get out of it.  Besides, I don’t want to have to train a new partner.”  He didn’t want to lose Neal with his creativeness and friendship, but he couldn’t come out and say that, so he did the next best thing.

Smiling a true smile, Neal enjoyed hearing Peter call him his partner.  That was the brightest aspect of his working with the FBI.

Grabbing Neal’s bag despite his protest, Peter informed him that it was hospital policy for him to be wheeled out, so a nurse was bringing his chariot.  The least Peter could do was to carry the bag for him.

When Neal asked where he parked, Peter informed him that he was already accessible to the curb so he didn’t need to do anything.  It was the perk of getting a front row parking space in the tiny lot next to the entrance.

After the nurse wheeled Neal out, Peter threw his bag into the back seat before ensuring Neal was safely into the car.  Thanking the nurse, Peter climbed into the driver seat and started the ignition.

Neal was relaxed, so he settled into the passenger seat and let Peter think that he was fooling him.  He would let Elizabeth prepare dinner and maybe allow Peter to make him stay overnight, but he was going to return home in the morning.  Colin was meeting him for lunch after all, and he wasn’t going to make the man wait any longer than necessary.  On second thought, he would let Peter persuade him to stay overnight.  Sure, he would put up a fuss and try to worm his way out of it, but he needed a distraction to keep him from pacing all night.

With a plan in mind, Neal relaxed while Peter quietly drove them to Brooklyn and compiled arguments to get his way.

When they arrived, Neal wasn’t surprised that Peter picked up his bag and carried it in.  He knew that Peter was caught between being commanding to make him stay, and sneaking like he could actually get something past him.  Grateful for the effort and consideration that Peter was putting forth, Neal simply walked in while conversing like he expected dinner and a ride home.  Although he clearly saw Peter and the bag, he ignored it like he had missed the whole process of unloading it.  That would give Peter an extra reason for concern and make him more likely to offer a distraction, but Neal didn’t want to push it too far or Peter would never let him go in the morning.  Seeing Peter watching him, Neal did everything else normally and left Peter wondering if he had indeed pulled a fast one on the great Caffrey, or whether he was getting a fast one pulled on him by the invalid.

While Peter pondered his quandary, Elizabeth took Neal in and attempted to distract him from realizing that Peter had followed him into the house before detouring upstairs.  He was obviously stashing Neal’s bag in the guest room, but they weren’t going to push that part of their plan on Neal until the day was getting late.  Then they were simply going to say he might as well get some sleep upstairs before going home in the morning.

It was a good plan overall, and Neal enjoyed letting them think they were fooling him.  He truly enjoyed being with good friends and Elizabeth always provided good food which made these times even better.  Perhaps it was a glimpse of what his other friend often experienced?

That was a door that had long been closed, but facing a repeat of his past had him longing for his support systems from the past.  Perhaps it was a good thing that Colin was coming in person.  At least he would have someone physically here to talk to who knew more than most.

Based off of the worried expression on Elizabeth’s face, he was going to need to be in his head less and more focused on what they were doing if he wanted them to let him go in the morning.

“Sorry Elizabeth, what did you say?”  He tried to be polite but he couldn’t tell her what was bothering him.

“Are you okay Neal?  You seem to be distracted and that isn’t normal for you.”  She was genuinely concerned, which was one of the things that made her truly special.  Not everyone could treat a con as well as she did.

“Yeah.  My head is fine, and the other marks will heal soon enough.  I have truly had worse in the past.  It’s just some things that my abductors hinted at… I don’t have a clue what is going on, and that is bothering me.  A friend of mine is doing some research for me, and has the results.  He is coming to the city in person, so it probably isn’t going to be good news.  In the meanwhile, I’m trying not to think about this all happening again.”  That was a great deal more than he had intended to say.  Then again, he did like to talk things out with people when he was beyond his element, and Elizabeth was just one of those people that he could talk to.  The biggest problem with his slip was that Peter was walking acrossed the room with a look on his face that said he has just gotten another piece to puzzle over.  Some days working with the best agents in their fields made every little slip a huge deal.

“Neal, I need you to tell me what is going on.”  He was slipping into his protective and commanding mode now which made it all the harder for Neal to tell him no.

“I can’t do that, Peter.  Like I told you before, the friend coming into town is a badge and I am not up to anything illegal.  The problem isn’t dangerous either.  I’m not saying that this is going to be pleasant, but facts aren’t always what we want them to be.  Sometimes we have to take the hand we’re dealt, no matter what it is.”  He let a little of his real self slip through.  For a moment, he wasn’t playing Neal Caffrey, and he wasn’t a criminal inclined to run when things got hard. 

By the looks on Peter’s and Elizabeth’s faces, they hadn’t expected him to reveal such strength and understanding when faced with something that upset him.

“Is there anything that we can do to help?”  Elizabeth said it, but she took the words right out of Peter’s mouth.  This was one of those times where the couple was of like mind and they didn’t need to communicate to know that.

“You’re already doing it.  I need a distraction so that I don’t focus on imagining what might be in store, and I know that you are my friends who are willing to help me when I need it… unless it is to do something illegal, and then you are my greatest adversary.”  He couldn’t resist taking the opportunity to tease Peter and lighten up the mood he had created.

Peter gave him a look of admonition, but also shook his head in amusement.

Elizabeth smiled as she watched the two dissolve into a bantering conversation about being better friends than adversaries.  Neal kept teasing that adversaries were fun and the thrill of the chase was appealing, while Peter tried to persuade him that a grounded life with friends provided better landings.  Whatever was bothering Neal would come, but he would always have them to return to if it got to be too much.

*******

The next day, Neal sat waiting for Colin.  He was off anklet, going by an alias, and waiting in a new restaurant. They were taking precautions because they didn’t want to endanger Neal anymore than necessary.

In order to distract himself from what was to come, Neal chose to reflect on his parting conversation with Peter as he persuaded the man to let him go.

_Neal had to reassure Peter that he was in fact fine.  His headache had faded a great deal and the bruise was going to start fading soon.  Before he left, he also threw in a heads up for the agent._

_“Like I said before, my friend is a badge, and he doesn’t want to be connected to Neal Caffrey.  So if you should happen to check my tracking data around lunch time and see that it is offline, that is because he has called in a favor for our meeting.  Again, all he is doing is giving me a folder of information, and probably helping me to accept something for a second time.  I’ve known him nearly all of my life and he helped me through this once, so he is actually the best candidate for the moment, so don’t worry about that.  And yes Peter, if I need anything I will let you know, and should something unexpected come up you are number one on my speed dial.”_

_Peter opened his mouth like he was going to say something else, but Neal had pretty well covered it all.  Besides, he had no control over the situation, so what was he going to say or do anyway?_

Directing his attention to the person entering the restaurant, Neal left off reflecting as it was time to confront the truth. 

Colin used his first name and referred to Neal as Mr. Anderson, per the safest name to be using.  The Marshal refused to share the contents of the package until after Neal had eaten.  Instead, he conversed about the abduction and how Neal had been doing since the last time they had talked.

After the meal was finished, Colin pulled out the files and began to take Neal backwards through his history.  When he got to Neal’s infancy, he pulled out the expected surprise, that Neal was adopted after all.  Then, he pulled out the unexpected surprise that the way Neal’s name had been changed wasn’t actually legally binding.  So not only did he not know his heritage, but now he didn’t even know his own name.

With that said, Colin had to be the bearer of more bad news.  “Your file was sealed before we became involved, and someone with a lot of pull is going to need to get involved if it is ever going to be opened.  Personally, I did everything I can and came up empty.  I’m sorry.”

They talked for a while, and Colin was at least able to help Neal see some positive perspectives.  He wasn’t the son of James, maybe he had siblings, and it was a chance for a new start.  Basically, his advice was to hope for the best and prepare for the worst, but to give the situation a chance.  Who knew, maybe he would like the results that he found.

Eventually they finished their conversation, and Colin left for his flight home.

Alone again, Neal pulled out his phone and made a call to the highest person of government power that he knew.

*******

Having monitored the meeting via Neal’s cell phone, his parents prepared for the remaining steps towards meeting him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing/commenting, and leaving kudos :D
> 
> I'll try to post on Tuesday (19th) when I get back, but it might be Thursday (21st) if there is too much going on.
> 
> For those who are aware of what has been going on, my grandma passed last Sunday night. My family is handling it fine as she is with our Lord and Savior so we will see her again someday. Now it's a matter of adjusting to the reality of her passing and getting her estate settled. Thank you everyone who has kept me and my family in their thoughts and prayers, it is much appreciated!


	5. Meeting

*******

Neal updated Beckman on his latest discovery and spun the story about needing to know his history to avoid further attacks.  Once he had finished, he wondered how she would react.  Would she let him reach out to his biological family?  After all, he wasn’t allowed to contact his friends or adopted family, and his current friends didn’t know anything about him beyond his current character.

She quietly observed him for a few moments while she deliberated.  Then she did the expected best case scenario and said that she would see what she could do.  With those closing words, the screen went dark, and Neal was left adrift in a sea of uncertainty.

Part of him was interested, and almost excited to learn that he had biological parents.  The rest of him was scared and nervous.  This was his second chance at family, and maybe they wouldn’t have all of the problems that his adopted parents had.  Then there was the possibility that things could turn out to be worse.

He wasn’t due back to the office until the next day so he had time to kill and emotions to work off. 

Suddenly, he had mixed feelings.  He wanted to travel down memory lane, and he wanted to prepare for the future.  Following those desires, he went back to his apartment and logged onto his computer.  There he was able to access the digital files of his childhood, and then he browsed around the internet checking out stories of family reunions like he might be able to expect. 

It was a long night, and it left him swimming through a storm of emotions that were only getting more churned up.  The longer he was left with no direction, the more he was floundering.

*******

The next day at the office wasn’t good. 

Everyone knew that something was up with Neal.  When he walked in that morning, he hadn’t said hello to anyone, no one got a charming smile, there weren’t any quips about office gossip, and then he was simply scowling at his computer screen while he fiddled with a pen.  His appearance wasn’t the usual standard of impeccable either with his hair not as gelled, his suite just didn’t seem as dapper, and of course with his face scowling he didn’t show his usual cheerful disposition.  It was obvious that he may be physically healing from his captivity, but something had changed on the emotional front.

Some of the team tried talking to Neal, but he continued to stare at his computer.  Concerned, several of them texted Peter to ask if he knew what had Neal so upset.  He responded that Neal had been to a meeting with a contact about some bad news and that he would talk to him when he got into the office.

It took a while for the meeting to end, but when it did Peter, was even more worried when he saw Neal’s expression for himself.  Neal looked angry, like his whole world had just collapsed.  Maybe it had?

“Hey, Neal.  I take it the news was worse than you expected?”  It was like removing the seal of an explosive container without reading the label.  Suddenly Neal got rather talkative really quickly.

“Huh.  I’ll say it was!  First my father betrayed me, then my mother virtually abandoned me as a toddler by becoming a ghost, and finally at eighteen I learn that my mom and a family friend had lied to me about everything.  Our friend had been like an aunt to me growing up, so she felt that I should know the truth before I went into the world and made a fool of myself.  In reaction, I went a totally different direction with my life than I planned, which brought me here.  As you know, I was recently abducted and held hostage for a ransom against persons unknown.  My friend researched into my childhood and found sealed adoption files, which means my parents didn’t care to tell me that the man who caused so much trouble isn’t actually my father and my mother was able to ignore me because I am not her son.  To make it even worse is the discovery that my name was changed with the adoption, but not through the proper legal channels, so for the second time in my life I don’t even know my own name.  Another contact is working to get those files opened, as they need someone with higher ranking, so I am left waiting with no idea if I will ever get to know the answers or not!”  By the time he finished his rant, his voice had been raised to an uncharacteristic level that had the full attention of the entire team.  Gathering his breath, he lowered his head and ran his hands through his hair.  He was practically vibrating with nerves and the others finally saw the signs of a difficult night’s sleep.

“Why didn’t you call last night?  We would have been happy to help you talk through some of this before you got so wound up.”  Peter wanted to remind him that he was here and willing to help, but he also felt the need to scold Neal for not taking care of himself.

“Remember the part where my dad betrayed me?  I can’t share personal information, so a trip down memory lane isn’t to be subject for conversation.  The part that probably killed my chance of sleeping last night was the stupid idea of checking out other stories of such situations online.”  He had spouted his frustration, so the exhaustion was starting to show more as his adrenaline faded.  Rubbing his eyes, he tried to stifle a yawn, but it was a failed effort.

No one teased him, no one envied him, and for a change no one begrudged him the suits and cappuccino in the clouds.  He had a rough childhood, so a kind lady’s charity wasn’t a bad thing to give him stability.

Seeing the pity in the team’s eyes and the fatigue in Neal’s, Peter made one of those executive decisions.  “Come on Neal.  We’re going to talk over lunch, and then you’re going home to sleep.”  What he didn’t say was that they were going to the Burke home, because he was willing to extend his home to Neal when he needed it.

Since Neal wouldn’t talk much about his new circumstances, Peter tried to distract him by getting him to talk about any other subject.  After a while, he was able to extract some exhausted smiles which he counted as a huge win.  Once Neal had eaten, he loaded him into the car and headed for home. 

Part way there, Neal realized and got upset.  He wanted to go home so that he wouldn’t miss his contact’s information.  When Peter reassured him that he had his phone to receive the communication, but that a change in environment might help him settle down enough for sleep, Neal decided that maybe Peter had the right idea.

Arriving at the Burkes, Peter ushered Neal upstairs to the guest room while he settled in on the couch to work from home.

*******

When Neal woke up, he had a message from the general that she would be at his place in the morning with his parents.  Feeling jittery with nerves, he was relieved to find Peter working on the couch downstairs.

“Feeling better?”  Peter was accessing him for his own answer while he asked.

“From the lack of sleep.  Thanks, Peter, I really needed that…”  He drifted off and didn’t say the rest of it.

“But…?”  Peter prompted the obvious. 

“My contact informed me that she will be at my place in the morning with my parents.”  His voice showed his nerves.

Peter nodded.  “Come on Neal.”  He got up and hurried Neal out the door without saying anything else.

“Where are we going, Peter?”  Neal had never been treated like this before.

With a smile, Peter decided to play an annoying game of hauling Neal all over the place for the rest of the day without telling him what he had planned, or where they were going next.  Neal would enjoy it, and it would keep him distracted from what was coming tomorrow.

*******

When Peter dropped Neal off at home, he couldn’t believe how well Peter had kept him in the dark the day before.  They had spent the afternoon going through art museums and checking out tourist sites throughout the city.  When dinner time came around, Elizabeth met them to eat before they insisted on Neal staying with them again.

Walking up the stairs, Neal’s nerves came back.  Who would be waiting upstairs?  Entering his apartment he saw the general and Roan Montgomery relaxing with glasses of his wine.  Looking around the room, he expected to see someone else, but they were the only people.

“What is going on?”  He asked the room in general.

“Take a seat.”  The general passed him a folder and directed him to go through it.

Looking at the first page, his eyes about popped out of his head.  “You’re my parents?”  His voice nearly squeaked with the surprise.

“Yes.  Now continue reading the information.”  The general… his mom (?) ordered.

Reading through the rest of the information, he found what his real name was.  Mark Ryan Beckman-Montgomery, so they had hyphenated their names to create his last name. 

Well, he didn’t question why they put him up for adoption.  They couldn’t easily be around to take care of him between the missions and their unstable relationship.  Eventually they would have had to leave him behind like Orion and Frost, or they would have been mostly absentee parents leaving him to the care of others anyway.

It was weird thinking of the two agents before him as his parents, but it was better than a mother who ignored him and a dirty cop who betrayed him.  Suddenly, it was more embarrassing and weird than upsetting for him.

At first he started to chuckle, then he started to laugh, and finally he was laughing so hard he was practically crying.  It was mind boggling to think that he was the son of Brigadier General Diane Beckman of the US Air Force, a senior official of the NSA, a part of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the leader for the task force Intersect project.  Then he looked at his father and he found himself really feeling amused.  His dad was a field legend of the CIA as well as a master at seduction.  If Chuck and the team ever heard of this… he would never live it down!

“What is so funny?”  Diane was giving him her patented ‘you’re in trouble look.’ 

While Neal wiped his eyes, he couldn’t help it.  “What if I don’t tell you… are you going to ground me?”  Making the information a joke was helping him to adjust to it.

Roan smirked and Diane frowned.  Apparently his smirk came from his dad… scary.

“No Neal, but I am still your boss too.”  So it was a game was it?  Neal set back and smiled all the more. 

“Perhaps I don’t want to say what is so funny, then what?”  He thought he had the upper hand until she gave her come back.

“I won’t let you talk to Chuck when his team comes into town to help with the investigation of your abduction.”  She kept her poker face while she played dirty.

Neal glared.  “That was a low threat.  But you know Chuck, and he would figure out what is going on and reach out to me eventually.”

“’Eventually’ being the key word.  Is it really that hard to say that you find it weird being our son?” She knew what he was hiding and she was done playing around for the moment, but Neal figured that these conversations would occur often in the future as a family way of bonding.

“To be honest…  yeah.  I grew up with a dad who was a dirty cop that betrayed me, and a mom who ignored me.  Then I go through several levels of learning the truth before I discover that my parents are you guys?”  He wasn’t as overwhelmed anymore, but it was still weird and would take some adjusting too.

*******

After that, they spent the rest of the day talking, and Neal learned a lot. 

His parents had placed him up for adoption and the Bennetts had happily taken him in.  Then his parents had watched him until he went into Wit-sec, where they lost track of him.  Technically he came back onto their radar when he started in the field as Bryce Larkin, but that was only because he was a player in the world of espionage.  They finally learned who he had become when his mom did a deep background check herself after he was cleared by Chuck for being in operation Sandwall.  From then on, his parents had returned to keeping track of him as best they could.

From there they went on to discuss personal attributes, which taught Neal some of where his skill came from.  Most of them seemed to be unanimous spy skills from both of them, but there were a few specifics.  He inherited his artistic and dancing abilities from his mother.  There were some obvious skills that he had inherited from the master of seduction, but his skills with the blade were also attributed to his father.  As for the computer skills and nerdy tendencies, well neither parent took credit for those, so they were some things unique to him.

Their conversations were only a beginning at bonding as a family, but they had a start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing/commenting, leaving kudos, following, and choosing to favorite :D
> 
> I'm back from my trip now, but this weekend we are going to be moving my grandma's possessions out of her apartment. It has been rented out so we have a tight clock to work in which might affect my posting this Sunday. After that, things should hopefully smooth out.


	6. Teamwork

*******

When Neal walked into the office the next morning, the team noticed that he was looking more like his usual self.  His smile was charming, he cracked jokes, his suit was pressed, and his hair was gelled back impeccably.   On first glance he looked pretty normal, but there was still something off in his attitude.

“So, how did the meeting with the parents go?”  Peter was waiting by his desk to ask while the entire office waited on bated breath.

Neal chuckled recollecting his day with his parents.  “I have known them for years, they have known I was their son for a few years but didn’t share the news, and it was awkward.” 

“What was so awkward about it?”  Diana asked.

“For one, I wouldn’t have pictured them as parents… yet alone my parents.  I can’t think of them as ‘mom and dad’ so that is taking some getting used to.”  The look on his face said that was the problem.  He knew his parents and was just trying to get used to the new relationship.

“I want to talk about this more, but we are expecting a team in today.  They are to help with the investigation on your abductors…”

Interrupting, Neal interjected.  “Chuck and the team are coming, I know.”  He beamed with pleasure knowing that he was going to see Chuck again.  Then he rolled his eyes as he thought of the inevitable teasing that would mean.  “The problem is that they will eventually figure out who my parents are and I won’t ever live it down.” 

Peter looked confused and interested.  “Now how in the world do you know that?”

Smirking, Neal was having fun messing with them.  “I know about the team because my parents are both government and they sent them.  As for Chuck and the team, we are old friends… or rivals.  It really depends on which ones you are talking about.”  He shrugged in a carefree manner like none of this was going to shock the team.

“Would all of these government friends you’re suddenly talking about have something to do with a government satellite recording of your abduction showing up on my computer?”  Peter had been waiting for that answer.

Surprised, Neal thought about that for a moment.  “I hadn’t heard about that.  My best guesses would either be my mom or Chuck’s dad… I’ll have to ask.”

“For not being able to think of them as ‘mom and dad,’ you’re sure referring to them as such.”  Jones commented.

With a shrug, Neal explained.  “I can refer to them in words like on a con, but thinking it like fact isn’t happening yet.  Perhaps after some time has passed it will get easier to adjust to.”

He had his back to the door so he didn’t initially notice the team entering until he heard the collective gasp behind him.  Turning around, he faced his oldest friend, “She didn’t forewarn you, did she?  To summarize, here I am Neal Caffrey who is a reformed con, thief, and forger.  My role in the FBI is as a consulting informant on a work release with a two mile radius.  Recently, I was abducted and held for ransom against parents that I didn’t know I have.  Following my rescue, I researched to learn that I am adopted and my real name is Mark.”  Holding his ground in the middle of his two teams, he stood straight while everyone stared at him.

Clearing his throat, Chuck continued to stare at him, but managed to speak.  “Nope, no she didn’t forewarn us at all.”  Then he shook his head and started to look happier about seeing his friend alive again. “You have some serious explaining to do about what happened after the last time we saw you, but I have a feeling she has something to do with that too.”

The rest of the team nodded along with him while Casey itched for his gun. 

Giving Casey a look, Chuck told him to keep his cool and let Neal alone.  Turning back to Neal, he smirked at him.  “So, Mark.  Did your parents turn out to be spies?”

It was the first time that anyone had called him by his real name.  Neal smiled at him.  “What makes you think that my parents are spies?”

Tilting his head like it was an obvious conclusion, Chuck grinned at him.  “Oh… you sent me something several years ago and it still works.  By the way, how did you do in his class?”

Neal’s eyes went wide.  He knew they would figure it out, but that was fast, even for Chuck.  Keeping his mouth shut, Neal blushed a little bit but refused to answer.

Everyone was curious about that.  What could cause Neal to blush?  Both teams turned to Chuck for answers.

“After everything that he has done for my family, I will give him some buffer time.  You’ll all have to figure it out for yourselves, but I doubt it will take too long.”  He gave Neal a grateful look.  Despite the opportunities, he had never thanked Neal for what he did, so he owed him.

Returning the look, Neal also looked grateful at him.  It was still just a matter of time, but Chuck could have told everyone.  For that matter, he didn’t even tell his wife.

With plenty of mysteries to contemplate, the teams started to introduce themselves to each other.  Then they went up to the conference room and settled in to get to work tracking the opponents.

*******

“Neal was walking home from the gym when this happened…”  Peter played the satellite images in order to give the group a glimpse of the attack.  “When we rescued him, he was zip tied to a chair with minor burns and injuries from his binds as well as a serious concussion.  He spent a few days in the hospital and has been off, or on desk duty, for the last few days to ensure his head has healed.  Now, we are teamed up to catch his abductors and, although names are being left out, we have been given all of the information on enemies for him and his parents.”

The rest of the meeting was a discussion of strategy as well as the dividing up of the names for research.

*******

When Neal walked back out into the office he wasn’t surprised when Sarah managed to throw out an aside for all to hear. 

“By the way Chuck.  He did disturbingly well… perhaps he inherited that from his father?”  She smirked at him as she walked by.

Hanging his head by the door, Neal waited for the rest of Chuck’s team to tease him on their way out while he rolled his finger through the air for them to get it over with.

With a snort and his facial expression, Casey seemed to say it all.

Taking a deep breath as Morgan approached, Neal figured that he would be the meanest with his long standing hatred of him. 

“Personally, I just don’t see it.”  Surprisingly, that was it.  He simply walked away like he was trying to find a way for it to make sense.

That wasn’t too bad really, but this was in the office so they were probably holding back.

Heading back to his desk, he smiled as he heard Diana bet Jones that her government contacts would give her his name faster than Jones’ military contacts. 

It was no use to fight them, so he might as well lay some ground rules.  “Okay everybody.  I know that you are making bets, searching, or know and anticipating the teasing opportunities.  There is no point in fighting it so I am going to set some rules for you all.  First, for those who want to tease me, keep my information out of it.  Second, those who want to make bets have to confirm their finds through me and I will determine who wins.  Finally, my adopted parents have put my life in danger since I was three years old so don’t get carried away… my life depends on my adopted information remaining secret.”

For a few moments, everyone paused in their activities.  None of them had seen that last part coming.  Suddenly, Neal’s secrecy and reluctance to allow them into his personal information made more sense.   

Ignoring them, Neal turned and continued to his desk, but Peter called him up to his office to ‘talk more’ he assumed.

Climbing back up the stairs he could see that Peter was keeping his concern under control, but that he would have to give him some answers.  Settling into the chair, Neal kicked his feet up on the desk to annoy Peter but, to his surprise, Peter almost didn’t react.  Frowning at him, Neal didn’t like where this was going.

“First, what do you mean that your adopted parents put your life in danger?”  Peter looked very concerned with that one.

“I mean that my father’s activities brought danger and my mother was too depressed to be attentive.  The details are something that I legally can’t discuss but don’t worry, as long as my identities remain unassociated there shouldn’t be any trouble.”  That might have been saying too much, but he wasn’t worried about Peter being a threat.  If nothing else, it might give him an ally to turn to should there ever be any trouble.

Peter’s eyes opened wide as he realized what that implied.  “Let me know if ‘trouble’ appears on the horizon.”  Then he returned to his original intent.  “Second, is there anything that we need to worry about with your biological parents?”

Smiling, Neal thought of all of the trouble they could cause if they wanted to.  “There would be a lot if they wanted to or felt the need.  Fortunately, that isn’t likely due to several circumstances.”

There wasn’t much for Peter to glean out of that, but he was obviously taking thorough mental notes.  “Okay.  Finally, how are you doing?”

That was an expected question.  This time Peter would want more details too.  “Not too bad.  I mean I’m not the son of the man I thought I was so that is an improvement.  My biological father has his faults, but at least when I hear stories about him being heroic, I know that it’s based on truth.  Then my biological mother… she is more interested in my well being.  She doesn’t feel the need to be involved in every aspect, but I have learned that she tends to spy on me in general to make sure everything is okay.”  He felt an odd mix of comfort that his mom was watching over him and a little creeped out that she was spying on him.  It reminded him of how Orion watched over Chuck and Ellie so it wasn’t a bad thing; it was just something else for him to get used to.

Amused by the expression on Neal’s face, Peter chuckled.  “Alright.  Unless there is anything else that you’re willing to share, you might as well get to work.”

Surprised, Neal focused on him again.  “That’s it?” 

Shrugging at him, Peter gave him a look that said he knew him well.  “Due to past experience, I can’t expect you to tell me everything at once, but those were the first details of importance at the moment.”

With a role of his eyes as he got up, Neal realized what that meant.  This was just one in the string of many smaller inquiries to get to know him.  He was glad that Peter wasn’t pushing him, but he also knew that the agent wasn’t known as ‘The Archeologist’ for nothing.  “So, until next time then.”  He smiled at Peter who returned the expression.

Once he was back down at his desk, he looked around the office.  For the first time in his life, things were looking pretty good.  His parents had issues and he still didn’t have a stable family, but at least he could be proud to be the son of two legendary agents.  Then as he watched the teams work around him, he knew something else, that he had great friends, and even rivals, who put their differences aside to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing, leaving kudos, following, and choosing to favorite :D


	7. Commonalities

***********

Wrapping up the case didn’t take long.  Everything seemed to fly together with the two best teams that Neal knew working diligently.

In only a few days they had narrowed down the suspect list to one and a takedown was in progress.  With the warrant in hand, the teams arrived at the location and began dividing into groups for entry.  On the count they stormed the building from all entrances and quickly rounded up the perpetrators.

From the van, Neal listened as his captors were arrested.  It didn’t take long and the men were being shuttled off to jail while other agents finished combing the place for evidence.

That was when Morgan turned off the system from their end to have his words.

“I have learned a lot about you since Chuck filled me in on everything, but all of that wasn’t much compared to what I have learned in the last few days.  Although I will never appreciate how you went about it, I am glad that you did everything that you could to watch out for Chuck and the family.”

 It was as close as he was going to get to a thank you or acceptance so he decided to go with it.  Nodding, he accepted Morgan’s words and gave him some back in exchange.  “He has always been lucky to have you there for him.”

Changing the subject, Morgan was ready to begin the teasing.  “So… Mark Beckman-Montgomery huh…”  His voice was full of humor as he said it.

Before he could get any further, Neal decided to see if there was anything he could do in the field with the other agents.  “I’m going to go see what is going on… out there.”  As he retreated, he could hear Morgan laughing behind him.

Shaking his head, Neal headed for where he could see Jones and Diana.  As he approached, they both turned to him and started talking at once.

“Neal, we need you to settle our bet for us.”

“There you are, we need you to confirm that I won.”

Jones gave Diana a look for her confidence and shook his head.

Ducking to hide his smile, Neal waived his hands to get their attention.  “Guys... on the count of three I want both of you to tell me the name that you have.  It’s a draw if both of you are wrong or right, but whoever says the right name first wins.  Agreed?”

With a unanimous vote, Neal started the count.  “One… Two… Three.”

“Mark Beckman-Montgomery.”

He bowed to them and flourished his hand dramatically.  “We have a draw.  It’s what I expected with my mom being military and my dad being CIA.”

“So, you’re the son of two spies and you turned out a criminal… what do your parents think of that?”  Diana was curious.

Neal just shrugged.  “Let’s just say they did a thorough investigation into my past and they understand why I am the way that I am.”  That was an easy way to dodge the question.

“How have you known government agents for years as a con?”  Of course Jones had to ask the hard one.

Sighing, Neal tried to think of a quick way to dodge him.  “Hmm… I guess the easiest way to handle that question is to say that they are friends that I share in common with Chuck.  Not good enough huh?  Truth be told, that is a question that I can’t fully answer.”

Jones and Diana both rolled their eyes.  Of course Neal would find a way to keep from answering them.

*******

Back in the office, the teams settled in to fill out their reports and close the case.

When they were finished, everyone split up.  Some went home while others split off to socialize. 

Oddly, Morgan ended up taking Casey and Jones to the shooting range to referee a shooting contest.  Sarah, Diana, and Elizabeth went out on a girl’s night.  Peter had other plans.  That left Chuck and Neal to have an evening conversing about their points of commonality.

*******

Walking home that evening, Neal reminisced with Chuck about their old days in college.  As they chatted about classes and days gone by, they enjoyed the first elements of their old camaraderie since college.  For the first time in years Chuck didn’t hate Neal for some action or another and he empathized with him on discovering that his parentage wasn’t exactly as he thought.  Neal felt relieved because he didn’t have to keep his real past secret from Chuck.  Thanks to the Intersect, there weren’t really any secrets between them.

As they walked, Chuck decided to do some more reminiscing so he grab a pizza and a couple six packs of sodas for dinner.

It wasn’t exactly what Neal tended to eat anymore but he was willing to go along with it for old time’s sake.

When they arrived at the apartment they settled in around the table to eat and talk.

 “So, you’re the son of Diane and Roan.  How does that feel?”

Neal laughed some as that still sounded odd.  “Probably… something like discovering your parents are Orion and Frost.” 

Bouncing his head, Chuck agreed with him.  “Except that I knew they were my parents…”

“You just have to rub that in don’t you.”  Neal gave Chuck a reproving glance. 

“Sorry.  You’re right, I shouldn’t be giving you a hard time on it but I’m not trying to be mean to you… you know that right?”  He was a little worried that he had upset Neal by teasing him on such a sensitive subject.

“Chuck, you couldn’t even be mean to me when you thought I had utterly betrayed you.  You hated me but you didn’t yell, argue, or even simply punch me.  I’m not afraid of you intentionally being mean and I know that you are also trying to get used to picturing my newly found family.”

Before Chuck could make a comment, Mozzie popped out from the back of Neal’s room.  “I had heard your new parents were of the spook suit variety.  Beckman and Montgomery make for interesting news though…”

Jumping, Neal and Chuck whirled around to see Mozzie standing just outside of Neal’s closet.

“Mozzie… were you spying on us from my closet?”  Neal had his brows furrowed at him as he was caught off guard.

With a shrug, Mozzie grabbed himself a plate, took a seat, and started to help himself to the pizza.  “I was waiting for you when I heard a strange voice approaching your apartment.  The handiest place was to hide in your closet and watch whatever happened.  Since it was you and a friend that I didn’t know I decided to wait and see who he was.” 

Then he turned to Chuck.  “I believe I have the honor of meeting Mr. Carmichael.”

Stumped as to how he could have figured him out, Chuck spluttered at him.  “Who… how do you know that?”

“My parents are also in the espionage business.  They left me at an orphanage in Detroit before going on an extended mission.  Since they survived, they looked me up when I was a teenager living on the streets and have kept in touch ever since.  When they saw all of the activity going on in the area they filled me in on most of the details, but I was able to fill in the last few details listening to your conversation.”  He acted like there was nothing unusual about getting information from your spy parents.  Then again, all three of them did that.

Blinking at how much he didn’t expect that, Neal thought that over for a moment.  “One question… who are your parents?  You know ours so it’s only fair.”

“Isn’t it obvious?  I’m Mozart and my parents are code named Bach and Tchaikovsky.  They’re lovers of classical music so they use their favorite composures as code names for the family.”

When he put it that way it did make sense.  Neal suddenly had an idea.  “You know, this is kind of like a secret club.”

Chuck cocked his head to the side.  “The sons of spies… personally I think Klingon should be the code language.  Can you speak that Mozzie?”

Shaking his head Mozzie had other ideas.  “No, no, no.  It should be called Heritage of Spies, and yes, I do speak Klingon.”

Grinning Neal continued.  “We’ll have to exchange contact information and come up with code names…”

“Zombie!”  Chuck exclaimed as he pointed at Neal.  “That is your code name so get over it.”

“Fine.  Then yours will be… Grease Monkey.”  Neal smiled at the look of displeasure on Chuck’s face.

“That leaves me to pick my own… Adumbration.  It means to produce a faint image, to foreshadow, and to darken or conceal.”

“To conceal what?”

Jumping again, this time they were surprised by the appearance of Peter.  He was standing with another pizza and had simply walked in through Neal’s open door.

“The information on our secret club.”  Mozzie clammed up by taking a bite of pizza.

“I hope there isn’t anything illegal involved.”  Peter pretended to be reprimanding them while he took the remaining seat and settled in to eat as well.

“What happened to those ‘other plans’ of yours?”  Neal wanted to know.

“Oh, I got my information.”  He was being mysterious on purpose so that someone would ask for more information.

“And that would be…”  Neal continued to try and get Peter to share.

“Not much really.  Just that he’s Theodore Winters AKA Mozzie the son of Bach and Tchaikovsky, he’s Charles Carmichael the son of Orion and Frost, and you’re Mark Beckman-Montgomery the son of Diane and Roan, but you also have a secret of your own like your name and history with Carmichael here.”  He promptly took a bite of pizza and ate like he hadn’t just revealed that he knew all of their greatest secrets.

After a few moments of listening to them splutter and question him, Peter wiped his mouth with a napkin and smiled deviously.  “Apparently all of your spy parents missed that I too am the son of spies.  Mason is my dad’s code name so I refer to him as being a brick layer so that most people will think he is in construction.  Then my mom pretends to be a secretary but she is actually code named Jade.”

Neal stared at him in open shock for a few moments before asking the vital question.  “Can you secretly speak Klingon?”

“HIja', vIta'laH.”

Endeavoring to adjust to another series of surprises, Neal gave him his code name.  “Okay Dimaggio.  You are now a part of the club ‘Heritage of Spies’ and all that it entails.”

“How did I miss that in my searches into your past?”  Mozzie finally reached a point of being able to speak.

“My files are sealed too in order to keep me protected from my parents’ enemies as my own are enough.”  He was smugly enjoying the surprise on the other’s faces.

While Peter, Chuck, and Mozzie got caught up into talking details about their new club, Neal sat back and watched.  At the beginning of all of this he thought he was the son of a crooked cop, he wasn’t able to contact his oldest friend, and he had secrets kept from all of his closest friends.  Now his two most trusted friends knew his biggest secrets, he was the son of two legendary agents, and he had all of his closest friends discussing a secret club for keeping in touch.  Life was pretty good!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing/commenting, leaving kudos, and choosing to favorite :D
> 
> I forgot to mention last week but, per Quinis' request, I have an epilogue that I have been working on for this story. It covers some of the behind the scenes details of what Beckman was doing in the background. Since it is ready, I will be tagging it on next week :D


	8. Oops…

*******

Director General Diane Beckman wasn’t thrilled.

She had been forced to team up with the CIA to create the Project Intersect.  It was an effort to combine resources in the hope of avoiding another terrorist attack like 911.  The theory was that their integrated information would prevent anything from slipping through the cracks due to poor interagency cooperation.

“Ha, it just puts everything into one easy location.”  She huffed to herself.

The situation that sent her back to the books was an attack on the Intersect itself.  One agent Bryce Larkin had managed to not only infiltrate the facility, but he had also stolen the entire database worth of information and destroyed the computer.  It was a feat for the record books as the football field sized system had been protected by an army of both agencies’ finest field agents.

Smiling a little smugly, she was proud that it was her agent Casey who managed to shoot the traitor down.  If it hadn’t been for him, Larkin would have gotten off of the premises which wouldn’t have looked well for the fledgling partnership.

In an effort to finish the case, she ordered Casey to follow the information.  Eventually that led to team Bartowski and the development of the finest field team that she had ever had the honor of commanding.

*******

One year later.

Team Bartowski pursued a case with a mysterious container being transported into the country.  As expected, they completed their mission creatively.  Completely unexpected, that container was being used to transport agent Larkin.

The man had survived a heart shot from one of the nation’s most notorious assassins.  That wasn’t something that anyone had thought possible.  It was also a combination of his strength and the enemy’s determination to keep him alive. 

Adhering to his slippery reputation, Larkin managed to escape one of the most secure holding facilities available.

Frustrated, Diane ordered for her favorite team to pursue.  If they could capture the elusive suspect, then they might be able to get valuable intelligence from him.

*******

Surprised again, Diane learned that Larkin was allegedly an undercover operative sent by the CIA to infiltrate the Ring.  The Intersect recognized his operation as Sandwall, but she wanted to do some further investigating into him herself.

Going through his files, she began the process of back tracing through his records.

First, she found the known information connected to his legal name.  Bryce Larkin was a very skilled agent with the CIA and working a task force operation with the Marshals and FBI.  He had his history at Stanford and his past connection to Chuck Bartowski. 

Still, there was something that seemed… off, in his story.  Having experience at creating false cover lives for field ops, she recognized a government created character.

Second, she worked to find the origination of his character, and then it clicked.  He was working an operation with the Marshals, so she checked into Wit-sec. 

Getting lucky, she managed to call in a few favors and used the level of national security that was at stake in order to leverage a peak at his files.  That led her through two more identities.  He was Danny Brooks of St Louis, and more importantly, he was Neal Bennett from Washington DC.

That name rang a bell.  The problem was, that she couldn’t place which bell.

It fell into the background as she worked to verify the operation details and eventually cleared Bryce to return to duty.

*******

Two years passed this time.

Gaining a reputation for dying in action, Larkin was killed a second time when he was supposed to replace Bartowski as the resident Intersect.  The man was a trained agent and a better choice as far as agency standards went, but it was fated to play out differently.

Larkin was betrayed and shot in the back before being drug out of the room with a bloody trail to mark his passing.

*******

Then it was six months.

Roan Montgomery was on a mission where he attempted to gain access to a Ring compound by playing the drunken flirt with really good information.  If they were willing to think him harmless enough not to pose as a threat, but valuable enough to take into their inner sanctum, then maybe he would be the key to weakening that particular strong hold.

When he proved successful, he was surprised to find that agent Larkin was once again alive and being held by the enemy.  Reporting his discovery, the agencies mounted a rescue and took down the base of operations as a two pronged attack.

With the valuable asset back in their possession, there were some decisions to be made.  Which Intersect did they keep?  Or did they risk having two?

Ultimately, it was decided that Larkin was not presently needed in the field as Bartowski was handling the issues better than expected.  Choosing to give the rising star a chance, it was decided that Larkin would be better put to use in his Caffrey alias working with the FBI and Marshals again. 

It would serve two purposes.  He might live longer, and he might topple another empire of decades old experienced criminals that had infiltrated the government system.

*******

Once the case was over and Montgomery was again romancing his lady love in some undisclosed location, he mentioned the sudden and random thought about their son.

“I haven’t thought about him in years, but right now, I wonder what became of him.”  The thought didn’t seem to cross his mind for long, but it was more likely pushed back for a lack of ability to find resolution.  They both knew that Mark had been placed in Wit-sec almost thirty years before, so there was no hope of finding an answer.  Was there?

The question kept revolving through Diane’s mind.  She was the director of the NSA, had leadership positions in multiple other agencies, and she was a ranking officer of the Air Force.  Why couldn’t she find a way to know what had become of her son?

Digging through her own personal records, Diane discovered the dusty file that had been pushed to the rear of her cabinet.  She preferred to keep such a point of vulnerability out of the public eye.  Really, no one knew that she had a son, and she liked to keep it that way.  If he was a treasured secret in the protection of the Marshal’s, then maybe her enemies would never go after him and he could grow up with some semblance of normalcy to his life. 

Sighing, she knew that she never could have raised the boy.  She and Roan were far too busy with their work that they never would have been around to see him, and if they were, what would a pair of old spies do with a small kid?

Although it hurt whenever she thought about the child, she knew that her motherly instincts had kept him in the back of her mind.  He was always lurking just below the surface, waiting for a quiet moment when she was alone to break into her consciousness. 

Roan was the same, but he had his own way of handling it. 

Perhaps that was why the agent spent so much of his time between missions elsewhere?  He had never been much of one for sitting still, but he used to drop in more before their son had been adopted out.

Opening the file, she began to look through the few pictures that she had and the periodical reports about his infancy and early childhood.  Then it ended abruptly with him being placed in Wit-sec.  Getting more serious, she went back to the earlier pages to refresh her memory on what his adopted parents had changed his name to.  To her, he would always be Mark.

Reading the name, she paused for a second in shock before hurrying to read it again.  No, she had read it right the first time.  His parents were the Bennetts, and they had changed his name to Neal.

Grabbing her records on Bryce Larkin, she read what his childhood name had been.  Neal Bennett.

Practically falling off of her seat, Diane didn’t know what to do for a moment.  He was a legendary agent, had protected the stability of the world twice through guarding the Intersect, so there was nothing to be ashamed of there.  Sure, he was pretending to be a con man and had been undercover as a traitor, but neither of those were his real character, the man he had actually grown up to be.  It was just the realization that she had known her son for years without knowing about it that surprised her.

With a gasp, she put her hand to her mouth as she realized that she had also ordered her son’s death.  By commanding Casey to stop him by any means, she had not only given him permission, but had encouraged him to kill her own son.  And to think, that she had been proud when he had successfully accomplished his goal.

Her eyes welled up with tears. 

What would Roan think?  Horrified, she didn’t know if she could tell him.  Despite the knowledge that Mark had survived in the long run, it was still something that she would have to deal with for the rest of her life!

Giving into her emotions, it was best for her to release them in the privacy of her own home while no one was there to see.

*******

There was some time between where Diane figured out what bell the name Neal Bennett had run, and the time where she explained the situation to Mark’s father.  It wasn’t until he was in Washington for a layover between flights on his way home.  He had some time off ahead of him to handle it, so it seemed to be the perfect time.

Feeling nervous the whole time they had drinks and ate their dinner, Diane tried to hide what was bothering her.  But, being a trained agent and observer, Roan had seen through her efforts at minimizing the importance of her distress.

Giving her the benefit of a doubt in public, Roan didn’t push beyond making her aware that he had observed her tells.  When they were alone, it was a different story.

“Are you going to tell me what has kept you staring off into space and jumping all evening?  It’s obvious important and you aren’t ‘fine.’”  He got serious and shared his concern.

Pausing as she tried to find a way to broach the topic, Diane found herself in the rare position of tongue tied.

Assisting in opening the conversation, Roan began trying to give her a start.  “Does it have anything to with our enemies?”

At a negative response he continued. 

“Does it have anything to do with either of our positions in government?”  He moved to the next most important part of their daily lives.

Getting a negative response again, he tried another guess.  “Is one of your agents troubling you?”

When she didn’t negate it, he realized that it was somewhere near the target.  “Which agent?  If you can tell me.”

“Bryce Larkin.”  She answered honestly.  It wasn’t what she wanted to say, but maybe it was a step in the right direction.

“Okay.  What did he do now, has he died again?”  Roan tried to tease.

Shuddering, Diane didn’t want to envision the thought.  “No.  At least I hope not, the last I heard he was still doing his undercover operation with another taskforce.  There has been no need to update me, so the others have kept their investigation going smoothly.”

“Then what it is?”  Roan was at a loss.

“Do you remember when you said that you sometimes wonder what became of Mark?”  She seemed to change the topic of conversation.

“We can never find the answer so there is no reason to think about it, but what does he have to do with Bryce Larkin?”  Roan questioned in confusion.

Passing him the records so that he could see for himself, Diane sat back and waited for him to reach the same conclusion.

Softly gasping, Roan seemed just as stunned as she had been.  “Bryce… is our son?”  He questioned despite having the full documentation in his hands.

“Yes, he is.”  She had adjusted to the knowledge.  Now it was time to see how he handled it.

Sitting in wonderment, Roan was trying to see himself in what he knew of the agent.  “Well, he obviously didn’t get all of that computer stuff from either of us.”  He started to smile.

Relieved Diane felt better knowing that he wasn’t upset by their son’s choices in life either.  There was still his reaction to what she had done to be faced though.  Figuring that she might as well bite the bullet while she could prepare for it, she could handled his reaction better than if she was blindsided with it later on down the road.  “Do you remember when he had stolen the Intersect?”  If he drew the connection himself, then she wouldn’t have to admit to her actions out loud.

Looking thoughtful, Roan tried to figure out what would have been significant about that event besides him playing traitor and getting himself killed.  Realizing the Diane was plagued by something more personal, he suddenly hit on the problem.  ‘You ordered Casey to stop him, at any cost.”

She nodded with tears glistening in her eyes again. 

“I’m so sorry.  You didn’t know and were only doing your job at the time… but now…”  He hurt seeing that much pain in her eyes.  “He ultimately survived, and it would have looked strange if you tried to cover for him.”  Roan tried to ease the situation.  It was done, but if he could help her to accept it then things would at least be better for her.

Leaning into his shoulder, she sought the comfort that she needed.  And being the young man’s father, Roan was the best person to understand her pain.

*******

Coming to an agreement, the two spies renewed their efforts to keep an eye on their son and created a contingency plan should he ever find out about them. 

It was a challenge to place the observation equipment without him noticing too much and without raising suspicion within the government, but the excuse of extra security while he was undercover seemed to take care of most of their trouble.  After that, it was simply a task of watching.

Over the nearly two years that followed, the observed as he escaped prison and arranged for a deal to work with the FBI.  Although agent Peter Burke wasn’t involved in his task force, the man came from good parents and seemed to have followed in their footsteps, just through a different agency and field.  The agents worked well together and the FBI benefited from their partnership while Mark’s case slowly gained ground.

Then the day came where they got the call, someone had traced their connection to Mark and he had been kidnapped for a ransom.

Keeping the abductors distracted with the ransom routine, they worked to give Burk and his team clues to mount a rescue.  When the job was done, the ransom had been paid with a planted tracer, and Mark was safely back with his friends.

The personal problem came when Mark figured out the conflict with the situation and pursued the obvious hints that his heritage wasn’t what he had been told.  Researching through his own contacts, he hit a wall with the discovery that he had been adopted.

It was something of an expected surprise when Diane got the call from him for help in finding his real parents.  She let him tell her his reasons for finding out in an effort to make her pliable to his request, but his effort really wasn’t necessary.

Diane and Roan were part interested to know him and to be able to acknowledge their familiar bonds, and part nervous because they had never been particularly active in his life.  How would he handle them now, especially considering some of their history with him?

*******

Sitting in his apartment, Diane and Roan raided their son’s wine collection.  It was expected of Roan, and to calm Diane’s nerves.  His landlady had led them right up to apartment and instructed them to make themselves comfortable, so they attempted to do just that.

When Mark finally arrived, he was obviously nervous and excited, despite his efforts to hide that. 

As he entered the room, he immediately took notice of them.  Diane was expected, but Roan surprised him.  Then his eyes quickly scanned the room in a sweep before going over it again in confusion.  He was obviously looking for where his parents where.

“Take a seat.”  She gave him the folder and directed him to go through it as he sat down.

Although it should have been fairly obvious to such a capable agent, his voice still had a squeak to it as he reacted to the news.

“Yes.  Now continue reading the information.”  Diane ordered him.  She needed him to have all of the information, and having him read the detail oriented file would be faster than her telling him the whole story.

As he calmed down and adjusted to the information, he seemed to understand.  There was acceptance in his body language.  Still, there was something there as he had another expression, one that she couldn’t immediately place.

Hearing his chuckle, she observed him closely as it grew into a laugh and eventually reached a point where he was almost crying for humor.  What was so funny?

Asking the question out loud, she gave him a stern expression to discourage any unruly behavior.

Watching as he wiped his eyes, she wondered what Mark would say.

“What if I don’t tell you… are you going to ground me?”  He joked.

While Roan smirked, she frowned.  What, did he think he needed to be treated like a child?  Reminding him of their adult statuses, she also wanted to point out that she thought like a government employee, not like a parent.  “No Neal, but I am still your boss too.”  She used the name he was currently going by.

“Perhaps I don’t want to say what is so funny, then what?”  He seemed to be testing her reaction, making a game out of the situation until he fully adjusted, and he was trying to find a new ground with the new knowledge at the same time.

If he wanted to play games, then she could too.  Keeping a poker face like an expert, she took her turn.  “I won’t let you talk to Chuck when his team comes into town to help with the investigation of your abduction.”

Glaring, Mark didn’t seem to like that one.  He didn’t have many friends and now that he had hope of renewing that old friendship, he didn’t want to lose the opportunity.  “That was a low threat.  But you know Chuck, and he would figure out what is going on and reach out to me eventually.”

Knowing the truth in that, Diane didn’t really want to keep one of his few friends away from him, especially since he was also one of her favorite field agents.  She knew that Bartowski came from a background of good agents and that he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Mark.  “’Eventually’ being the key word.  Is it really that hard to say that you find it weird being our son?”  As they had been talking, she had been watching his body language, thinking through her knowledge of him, and seeing some similar markers to her and Roan which helped her to read him.  He wasn’t upset, just unaccustomed to their new role and struggling to change his perspective of them.

“To be honest… yeah.  I grew up with a dad who was a dirty cop that betrayed me, and a mom who ignored me.  Then I go through several levels of learning the truth before I discover that my parents are you guys?”  Based on how he almost seemed impressed, she was relieved that he didn’t seem to be disgusted.  Maybe he hadn’t thought about the fact that she had ordered his death yet?

 Dissolving into general conversation, they discussed their family history on both sides and shared a lot of personal details with him.  Mark seemed to be relieved to finally have the truth about his heritage, and his parents finally got to experience something of parenthood with their adult son.

Eventually though, the dreaded topic was bound to come up.  When Mark began asking into how they had traced him, Diane looked uncomfortable.  Thinking through what might have caused her reaction, Mark surprised her. 

“Did you do some research into me after Sandwall and connect the dots?”  Although he skipped right over mentioning, he had definitely connected the circumstances to her reaction.

“Yes.  But I didn’t actually make the connection until later, after Roan mentioned something about wondering what had become of you.”  She was still nervous about how he might handle the situation.

“So, that operation had a lot of effects.  Chuck joined the agency, met Sarah, Casey joined their team, and you learned my information to eventually connect who I am.  And here I just thought that I was keeping the Intersect away from the Ring.”  He smiled.  Despite how bad it had been to die and be a prisoner for an extended period of time, there had been several good results.

“You aren’t mad… that I ordered Casey to stop you?” Diane wondered at his easy acceptance.

Shrugging, Mark didn’t seem to be worried.  “As I’m sure you would tell me if the situation was different, you didn’t know and were doing your job, and it wouldn’t have done me any good to protect me.  If the Ring thought that I was a mole in their operation, they would have killed me for sure.  I survived, and you kept me from a worse fate.”

Relieved that he genuinely seemed to hold no ill will towards her, Diane could finally relax for real.  The worst of her worries were over.

*******

Moving forwards to solving the case, the teams quickly worked through it as expected.  They traced the tracker to find a small group of violent and sneaky criminals.  Then they used their detective skills to investigate until they found the leaders.  It was a two part operation, the long term enemies of Diane and Roan instigated it, and the random hitters they had hired for their skills that were necessary to catch someone in government protection.

After arresting the perpetrators, the teams settled in to get to know each other and several friendships were being created.

The part that most interested Diane and Roan, was the discovery that Mark’s closest friends were all the sons of trusted spies.  It was a relief to know that he could both have trusted friends, and people who would understand his situation.  Even Burke figured out his spy employment which meant that both of his agency friends knew of his real work.  Life would be a whole lot easier for him in the future. 

Their only question was what Mozzie would think.  Then again, the criminal might be willing to accept another agent to their secret club. 

Mark hadn’t shared any details about their group, just that it was like a secret club of friends who all had a similar heritage, but he wouldn’t think of it as a support group. 

Smiling, Diane and Roan were happy for the men and were willing to overlook those odd moments when Mark went off into some kind of code with them.  It was just a part of who he was and the fun that he had with his friends.

*******

Life had changed for all of them.

Mark and his friends had friends who were also the sons of spies and brilliant nerds.  He could rest assured that his parents had his best interests in mind and that they were an active part of his life, even if they were simply spies keeping an eye on him from a distance.

Diane and Roan had their son in their lives, allies to help protect him, and the knowledge that he wasn’t helpless if anyone was foolish enough to challenge that protection.  They also had the strengthened bong in their odd relationship as they could once again come together to share information on their son and enjoy seeing what was going on in his life.

All in all, life was good and they enjoyed the prospect of sharing in their familiar bonds and friendly ties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for reading, reviewing/commenting, leaving kudos, following, and choosing to favorite :D
> 
> Per request, I will be posting "Recovering Friendships" beginning next week. As this is a long story, I will consider the request of posting an extra chapter from time to time when I can. The most likely days would be Tuesday or Thursday on my half off days. Considering that the fall ramps up to my busiest time of the year, this won't be a weekly extra, just a random one.


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